increased losses for 1993, due partly to the delayed start-up of a controversial toxic waste plant in the United States.

Von Roll AG, the Swiss steel and engineering group, said this year's results would be hit by a number of factors, including the costs caused by the delayed start-up of a Waste Technologies Industries toxic waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio.

"An even higher loss must be expected this year than in 1992. It's only from 1994 that Von Roll expects a significant change in the evolution of its results,'' it said in a shareholders letter.

The company, which made a net loss of 55 million Swiss francs ($37 million) in 1992, said almost all its activities continued to suffer from a harsh economic climate in the first six months of this year.

The $160 million facility in Ohio, which Von Roll owns but did not build, went into operation in mid-August, a year and a half behind schedule, it added.